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US-Philippine Relations
US and Philippine fighter aircraft staged a joint patrol and training Tuesday over a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese fighter jets fired flares last year to drive away a Philippine aircraft, Philippine officials said. The joint patrol and air-intercept drills over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines were the first by the longtime treaty allies since US President Donald Trump took office again. Trump's America First foreign policy thrust has sparked concerns among Washington's allies in Asia about the scale and depth of US commitment to the region in his new term. His predecessor, Joe Biden, had moved to strengthen an arc of security alliances in the region to counter China's increasingly assertive actions. Two US Air Force B-1 bomber aircraft and three Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets joined the brief patrol and training, which involved practising how to intercept a hostile aircraft, Philippine air force spokesperson Maria Consuel
China's defence minister on Sunday acknowledged the importance of newly renewed military-to-military communications with the United States as tensions escalate in the Asia-Pacific, while at the same time accusing Washington of causing the friction with its support for Taiwan and the Philippines. We will not allow anyone to bring geopolitical conflicts or any war, whether hot or cold, into our region," Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun told the Shangri-La defence forum in Singapore through a translator. We will not allow any country or any force to create conflict and chaos in our region, he added. China has been increasingly assertive in pressing its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, a key global shipping route, which has led to a growing number of conflicts, most notably with the Philippines, whose ships have been rammed by Chinese vessels and hit with water cannons. Dong insisted that China's strategic culture is anchored in universal love and non-aggression", before
American and Filipino forces launched their largest combat exercises in years Monday in a show of allied firepower near the disputed South China Sea that has alarmed Beijing. The annual exercises by the longtime treaty allies will run until May 10 and involve more than 16,000 of their military personnel, along with more than 250 French and Australian forces. While the Philippine military maintains that the Balikatan Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder trainings are not directed at a particular country, some of their main conflict scenarios are set in or near the disputed South China Sea, where Chinese and Philippine coast guard and accompanying ships have figured in a series of increasingly tense territorial faceoffs since last year. In encounters in disputed areas, Chinese coast guard vessels have resorting to water cannons, blocking and other dangerous maneuvers that have caused injuries to Philippine navy personnel and damaged supply boats. The Philippine military said a key focu
The Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday expressed his gratitude to India for its swift and decisive action in rescuing Filipino crew members of a merchant ship attacked by Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden this month. The Indian Navy's medical team rescued all the crew members of MV Confidence and provided them critical care after the merchant ship sustained an attack by a Houthi missile strike while sailing the Gulf of Aden on March 6. Three crew members, including two Filipinos, were killed. All the Filipino crew members who survived the attack have been repatriated, the Philippine News Agency reported. Marcos, extending his gratitude to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is visiting the Philippines, said: I express my profound gratitude to the Indian government for their swift and decisive action in rescuing Filipino seafarers involved in the MV True Confidence incident. I look forward to further strengthening our bilateral relations for the mutual
It was a heart-pounding moment far out in the disputed South China Sea: One of at least five Chinese coast guard ships aggressively approached and sideswiped a Philippine patrol vessel, creating a loud, jarring noise that sent its Filipino crew scrambling to lower rubber fenders to cushion the boat's hull. As the high-seas faceoff unfolded on Tuesday, two Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against a smaller supply boat carrying a Filipino admiral and his sailors. The high-pressure spray shattered the boat's windshield and mildly injured the admiral and four sailors with glass shards and splinters of debris. "That's very concerning and very worrisome, Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos later told reporters, after witnessing firsthand the Chinese actions against the supply boat Unaizah Mae 4, which he was aboard. As the highest-ranking Filipino military commander overseeing the disputed waters, Carlos joined the trip to ensure that any confrontation would not spiral out of control, th
President Joe Biden is set to host President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines for White House talks on Monday as concerns grow about the Chinese navy's harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. Marcos' visit to Washington comes after the US and Philippines last week completed their largest war drills ever and as the two countries' air forces on Monday will hold their first joint fighter jet training in the Philippines since 1990. The Philippines this year agreed to give the US access to four more bases on the islands as the US looks to deter China's increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. Meanwhile, China has angered the Philippines by repeatedly harassing its navy and coast guard patrols and chasing away fishermen in waters close to Philippine shores but which Beijing claims as its own. Before departing for Washington on Sunday, Macros said he was determined to forge an ever stronger relationship with the United Stat